easiest recorder?

[beatnikbiker]

hello all, im currently using a br532, ive never fully got to grips with the thing, back in time before the digital era, i had a tascam portasound that recorded to cassette, i was prolific at knocking tunes out on that due to its simplicity, i want to ask members if there is a recorder thats good for dummys like me? i struggle with the virtual tracks and bounce mode, ive read 64 guitars great reworking of the instructions and its helped, but i would really like a new machine thats very easy to use?   thanks

[jules metcalfe]

Hi, 532 is a good recorder.  I struggled for years to work the thing, until i bought the Roland DVD.  I since went on to  use Mac logic, but went back to the 532, if you have any questions please ask, i know my way round the machine.  All the stuff on here is off my 532.  Cheers. J

[beatnikbiker]

thanks jules, after listening to your music on here you definately know your way round it, its the bouncing down to to two tracks, its a really hit and miss affair, ive lost tracks that i wanted in the final mix, when that happens i lose all patience and chuck the thing in a cupboard for 6 months.

where would i get the dvd you mentioned?  thanks again.  john

[64Guitars]

Here's the BR-532 DVD:

http://proaudiodvds.com/store/multitrack-recorders/roland-boss-br-532-dvd-tutorial/?Click=2040

I highly recommend it for anyone who has trouble understanding the manual. David Wills really knows his stuff and presents it in a very clear way that's easy to understand.

[beatnikbiker]

thanks 64 guitars, im getting dvd, dont know whether to go for online access or dvd?

[64Guitars]

"Virtual tracks" is a misleading term. The word "virtual" suggests that they're not real or that they're somehow different from "regular" tracks. But that's not true. The BR-532 actually has 32 tracks and they're all very real and none are in any way different from the others. But to play back 32 tracks at the same time would require a 32-channel mixer which would be too big and expensive to put into a recorder like the BR-532. So the BR-532 has only a 4-channel mixer built in. That means you can only play back 4 of the 32 tracks at a time. Obviously, there has to be some way to select which 4 tracks you want to listen to at a given time. For ease of use and perhaps for engineering reasons, Roland chose to permanently assign eight tracks to each of the four mixer channels. So, on each of the four mixer channels, you have your choice of eight tracks. The name they've given to this selection is "v-track". When you start a new song, each mixer channel defaults to v-track 1. You don't have to use that v-track - it's just the default. You can change it to any of the 8 available tracks on that channel. V-track 1 is no better than v-tracks 2 through 8. But v-track 1 seems like a logical place to start a new song so there's no good reason to change it until you've used up all four playback tracks (v-track 1 on mixer channels 1 through 4).

After you've recorded your first four tracks, you need to switch to some empty tracks if you want to continue recording more stuff. You do this by changing the v-track selection on each mixer channel (see page 44 of the BR-532 manual). But you don't want to switch to four empty tracks because then you wouldn't be able to hear what you recorded on the first four tracks. That's where bouncing comes in. In bounce mode, you can record a stereo mix of your first four tracks onto another two tracks. For example, if you've recorded on Tr1v1, Tr2v1, Tr3v1 and Tr4v1 (the defaults for a new song), you could bounce those four tracks to Tr1v2 and Tr2v2. Now you can switch to v-track 2 on all four channels. When you press Play, you'll hear your stereo mix on tracks 1 and 2, and tracks 3 and 4 will be empty so you can record something new there. Note that your original four tracks on v-track 1 have not been erased or over-written. If you later decide that you don't like your mix, you can always switch back to v-track 1 and make a new mix of those first four tracks. That's the great thing about having 32 tracks available. You never have to erase or overwrite any of your tracks because there are plenty of empty tracks available to use instead.

If you're confused by my talk of the BR-532's built-in 4-channel mixer, you might prefer to think of the BR-532 as having 32 record tracks and 4 playback tracks. This is the terminology that Roland uses in the manual. This can get confusing though because the word "track" is so over-used. Whichever terminology you use, the principal is the same. You have 32 tracks available to record to, but you can only mix or listen to 4 tracks at a time. The "v-track" is nothing more than a selector to determine which of the 32 record tracks you're going to mix or listen to at a given time. For each of the four playback tracks, you have your choice of 8 tracks to record to but only one of the 8 can be selected for playback at a time. And note that one of the 8 v-tracks is always selected, even if it's v-track 1 (the default). So there's no concept of "real" tracks versus "virtual" tracks. They're all real. The v-track is just the name given to the track (of the available 8) that's currently assigned to a particular playback track.

I hope that helps clarify v-tracks and bouncing. For more info, have a look at my web page on the subject:

https://songcrafters.org/64guitars/BR/Tutorials/V-Tracks_and_Bouncing.html

[64Guitars]

thanks 64 guitars, im getting dvd, dont know whether to go for online access or dvd?

I'd say the DVD is probably best because you can watch it on your television or your computer. With the online access option, you're limited to watching only on your computer (unless your TV has internet access). Also, I think the DVD might have better video resolution, though I'm not certain about that.

The advantage of the online access is that you can start watching it right away. With the DVD, you'd have to wait for delivery (though, I think it's usually pretty quick). Also, you can use the online access from any computer that's got internet access. For example, you could watch it at work on your lunch break, or you could look up something when you're at a band rehearsal. Of course, you can do the same thing with the DVD if you remember to take it with you. With online access, there's nothing to take with you. All you need is a computer with internet access (and to remember your username and password).

I think it's the kind of thing that you'd only watch a few times, so I'd probably go for the DVD rather than online access. Hopefully, once you've watched the video a few times, you'll have a much clearer understanding of your BR-532. Then, if you need to look something up, you'll probably use the manual rather than the video. So the online access option doesn't seem that attractive to me. But it's a personal choice. Whichever works best for you.

[64Guitars]

hello all, im currently using a br532, ive never fully got to grips with the thing, back in time before the digital era, i had a tascam portasound that recorded to cassette, i was prolific at knocking tunes out on that due to its simplicity, i want to ask members if there is a recorder thats good for dummys like me? i struggle with the virtual tracks and bounce mode, ive read 64 guitars great reworking of the instructions and its helped, but i would really like a new machine thats very easy to use?   thanks

I'd recommend getting to know your BR-532. The DVD will probably help with that, and you can always ask questions here.

But if you really want a new recorder that's simpler to use and more like your old TASCAM Portastudio, then you might want to look at some of the entry-level recorders from TASCAM such as the DP-006, DP-008, or DP-03.

http://tascam.com/applications/recording/mtr_digital_portastudio/

But keep in mind that what makes these recorders simpler also limits them, compared to your BR-532. For example, they don't have virtual tracks. That makes it simpler because you don't have to bounce. But it means that you have to reserve two tracks for your final mix. So, if you have an 8-track recorder like the DP-03 or DP-008, then you can really only record 6 tracks because you have to reserve the last two for your mix. If you want to record more than 6 tracks, then you'll have to bounce and overwrite your first 6 tracks. If you later decide that you're not happy with your mix, you can't remix those first 6 tracks because they're gone.

So I'd recommend trying to understand your BR-532 rather than looking for a simpler recorder. Like most things, it's very simple once you understand it. But until then, it will seem more complicated than it is.

[beatnikbiker]

thank you so much 64 guitars, you are a star, so helpful, really appreciate the help. ive purchased the online and have already learnt loads of new stuff, im loving songcrafters too

[IanR]

When I first started recording, the thing that always confused me with bouncing on my micro BR was that after the bounce process, I didn't realise that I had to select the tracks that I'd bounced to - to hear the bounced mix.  Then I'd go and record further and things would sound strange because I wasn't listening to the full mix.

So, the key to bouncing (for me) was to remember to deselect the tracks that I had bounced from (ie go to a new V-track) AND select the tracks that I had bounced to (say tracks 3/4 v-track 8 ) before doing more recording.

I know that is a simple thing but back then I had NO IDEA!

cheers,

Ian